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Simone Popperl

@simonepopperl.bsky.social
292 followers 403 following 86 posts

Senior Editor, NPR’s Up First & Morning Edition. Night owl in an early bird family

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Reposted by Simone Popperl
Marketplace @marketplace.org · 31/08/2026
ICE collected the DNA of nearly a million people last year, adding their genetic profiles to a database used for criminal investigations. Under current rules, DHS only needs to place a person in detention to collect their DNA — a practice many argue is unconstitutional.
marketplace.org
ICE is collecting DNA from detainees for future policing
Stevie Glaberson at Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology found that DHS has been collecting DNA samples from detainees — and then sending that genetic information to an FBI database.
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Reposted by Simone Popperl
Stephanie Kirchgaessner @skirchy.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Exclusive: RFK Jr lied in Senate confirmation hearings, newly revealed documents indicate. Stellar reporting by @bymichellersmith.com based on documents obtained by @theguardian.com and @apnews.com www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
RFK Jr lied in Senate confirmation hearings, newly revealed documents indicate
Letters obtained by Guardian and AP contradict testimony that 2019 visit to Samoa had ‘nothing to do with vaccines’
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Amy Maxmen, PhD @amymaxmen.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
An analysis finds that New Mexico's measles outbreak cost $5.4 million last year. NM had 100 cases. AZ outbreak is more than 3x larger; Utah's is more than 7x larger. TX and SC are each 10x larger. Welcoming back measles is going to be very expensive. www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/...
acpjournals.org
Economic Impact of the 2025 New Mexico Measles Outbreak: Highlighting the Cost of Efforts to Prevent Future Outbreaks | Annals of Internal Medicine
Background: In 2025, the United States experienced its highest measles case count since 1992. In New Mexico, 100 confirmed measles cases (99 outbreak-related cases), including 1 death, occurred across...
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Amy Maxmen, PhD @amymaxmen.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
🧵The US no longer meets criteria for measles elimination. Utah's outbreak has lasted for more than a yr. And cases this yr are at a 35-yr high. I talked w/pediatricians treating measles & talking w/parents who don't vaccinate. My latest @wired.com @kffhealthnews.org www.wired.com/story/the-ch...
wired.com
‘The Child Is Terrified’: Measles Doctors Speak Out
Hear from six pediatricians in measles hot spot Utah, as the US faces infection levels not seen in over three decades and prepares to lose its status as a country that eliminated the dangerous disease...
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
We've written about AI-induced physician deskilling that has already surfaced thelancet.com/journals/lan... @tberzin.bsky.social AI-induced never-skilling among newly trained doctors, while not yet proven, is a serious concern that needs to be addressed nature.com/articles/s41...
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Geoff Brumfiel @gbrumfiel.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
My editor just got thank you notes from some elementary school students he spoke to about journalism, and shared this one with us.... I've never felt so seen.
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Jen Bendery @jbendery.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
WOW -- Cassidy, now in a tough primary race, didn't ask RFK a thing about vaccines. Or push him on anything at all.
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
In case you’re wondering who is getting rich from GOP decision to purge millions from Medicaid: kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org
States Pay Deloitte, Others Millions To Comply With Trump Law To Cut Medicaid Rolls - KFF Health News
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will add red tape and restrictions for those seeking Medicaid and SNAP benefits. And the costs to update computer systems that determine eligibility for those programs w...
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s. e. smith @sesmith.lol · 13/03/2026
Hey so devastating and lethal side effects of measles can show up YEARS after infection FYI.
kffhealthnews.org
Doctors Warn of a Deadly Complication From Measles Outbreaks - KFF Health News
U.S. doctors are getting the word out about how to spot a rare measles complication that had been a relic of the past: subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. It affects a person years after a measles in...
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Reposted by Simone Popperl
Liz Szabo @lizszabo.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Over a century of life, if all recommended, aluminum-containing vaccines are received, maximum potential aluminum exposure from vaccines would be approximately 12 mg of aluminum, whereas exposure from absorbed aluminum in diet would be between 468 and 2785 mg. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com
Aluminum Exposure From Vaccines and Diet
This Perspective examines aluminum exposure from vaccines and diet, including how the body processes aluminum, possible health effects, and safety considerations.
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Reposted by Simone Popperl
Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Such an important story: ProPublica went inside the immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas. Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the U.S. and the fear of what comes next. @micarosenberg.bsky.social
propublica.org
The Kids Trump Sent to ICE’s Dilley Detention Center
ProPublica went inside the immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas. Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of...
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Reposted by Simone Popperl
Dimitri Drekonja, MD, MS @dimitridrekonja.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Alex from our time working together, while he was in nursing school. Later, he moved to ICU, working as a nurse to support critically ill Veterans. He had such a great attitude. We’d chat between patients about trying to get in a mountain bike ride together. Will never happen now
Alex Pretti from his early days working at the VA
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
"This is a seductive argument to a layperson, but it is ethically bankrupt." Worth a read.
statnews.com
Why comparing the U.S. vaccine schedule to European countries’ is a red herring
If any ambiguity remained about the ultimate goal of the current administration’s public health policy, last week shattered it. On Friday, following a
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Reposted by Simone Popperl
Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
AAP is not changing its recommendations in response to the CDC vaccine panel; they diverged on covid shots as well
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
If you’re curious about what‘s at stake in today’s #ACIP discussions, check out our story on the real risks of “horizontal transmission” of hep B among babies: www.npr.org/sections/sho...
npr.org
Doctors warn delaying hepatitis B shot for newborns could revive a deadly threat
As RFK Jr.'s new vaccine panel ponders changing the hepatitis B vaccination schedule, some doctors recall past patients, including children, who died painful deaths before there was a vaccine.
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Reposted by Simone Popperl
Maggie Fox @maggiefox.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
If you are used to attending or watching ACIP metings, it is difficult to describe just how disturbing this one has been. People talking over one another, confusion, outright ignorance. Compare this to the very orderly, sedate, consideration of facts of previous meetings for years and years.
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
#ACIP member Cody Meissner: “I take strong issue with each of the three presentations we just heard“ on the hep B birth dose. “There were so many statements that I disagree with that it’s hard to be succinct”
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Rosemary Westwood @rosemarywestwood.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
New from me: After a whooping cough outbreak killed two infants, Louisiana health officials waited months to officially alert physicians or do public outreach. www.npr.org/sections/sho...
npr.org
Louisiana officials waited months to warn public of whooping cough outbreak
After a whooping cough outbreak killed two infants, Louisiana health officials waited months to officially alert physicians or do public outreach. That's not the typical public health response.
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
@rosemarywestwood.bsky.social spent months carefully reporting this important, nuanced, and chilling piece. What happens when public health institutions don't follow their playbook during an infectious disease outbreak? Take a look/listen:
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
In the spring, we reported on how pharmacies were trying to prepare for all these unknowns. Bottom line: lots of independent pharmacies are probably in trouble. And they don’t know how to answer @lizzieohreally.bsky.social’s very reasonable question. Radio and print story for NPR:
npr.org
Pharmacists stockpile most common drugs on chance of targeted Trump tariffs
While Big Pharma seems ready to weather the tariff storm, independent pharmacists and makers of generic drugs — which account for 90% of U.S. prescriptions — see trouble ahead for patients.
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Reposted by Simone Popperl
Lizzie O'Leary @lizzieohreally.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
I am a well educated, pretty media literate person whose job it is to be professionally annoying. I cannot figure out if my cancer medication, which costs $17k a month (I do not pay anything thanks to a combo of insurance/access programs), is going to be tariffed 100%.
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
SO! Over the last two days, here's what the Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices voted to do: 1. Recommend against the combo MMRV vaccine for kids under age 4. Instead, MMR + V as two shots is recommended. Most kids get it that way already. Second dose at age 4 can be the combo vaccine.
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Reposted by Simone Popperl
Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Vote 2, recommending states require a prescription for COVID-19 vaccines TIES. 6-6. The chair breaks the tie, and Kulldorff voted no. The motion fails.
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Vote 1 passes 11-1. This is the one recommending the CDC add language about the risks Retsef Levi presented earlier to vaccine information statements for COVID-19 vaccines. Chairman Kuldorff voted no, but didn't explain why.
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Vote 4 passes 12-0, changing the recommendation for COVID-19 for all age groups to "individual decision-making," also know by this group as "shared clinical decision making," with some added nuance for those under age 64.
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Kulldorff says they're beginning with Vote 4: changing the COVID-19 vaccine schedule to "individual decision-making"
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
More than three hours into today's ACIP meeting. Lots of discussion around COVID-19 vaccines. But we still have absolutely no idea what (if anything) they'll be voting on related to COVID.
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
So the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine lives for now. Kulldorff implies it will come up again at a future meeting.
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
WOW. ACIP has decided it will NOT vote on whether to postpone the birth dose of hepatitis B at this meeting. They are not at all aligned on why, though. Some believe postponing to 1-month of age isn't long enough. Meissner now pointing out the "overwhelming evidence" supporting the birth dose
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Here comes the hep B vote. Read our story for what's at stake: www.npr.org/sections/sho...
npr.org
Kennedy's vaccine panel expected to recommend delaying hepatitis B shot in children
RFK Jr.'s hand-picked panel of vaccine advisors is expected to vote to delay the hepatitis B shot for newborns. Doctors warn that could fuel a return of a disease virtually eradicated in U.S. kids.
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
The federal vaccine advisory committee is going to redo the vote they took on restricting the MMRV combination vaccine for kids under age 4!! Chairman Kulldorff says "we are rookies" with "the technical issues"
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Waiting for the video feed to start for today's ACIP proceedings. After yesterday's voting confusion, the livestream captured several voting committee members trying to explain to each other what they just voted for. You can watch here to see what today brings.
youtube.com
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) - September 19, 2025 – Day 2 of 2
YouTube video by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
The meeting starts in less than 15 minutes....
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Reposted by Simone Popperl
Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Amazing moment at ACIP....the language of the votes was released so late that voting members of the committee say they're confused about what they're voting for/against.
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
RFK Jr.’s handpicked federal vaccine advisory committee is talking now about whether to push back the first dose of the Hep B vaccine from birth to 1 month of age. CDC experts prepared a really thorough presentation, including this stunning risk/benefit slide:
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Ex-CDC director is telling the Senate right now that RFK Jr. pressured her to rubber stamp a new childhood vaccine schedule without evidence. We learned that delaying the first dose of hepatitis B was part of RFK Jr.‘s plan. Read @jackie-fortier.bsky.social’s brilliant story.
kffhealthnews.org
RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Panel Expected To Recommend Delaying Hepatitis B Shot for Children - KFF Health News
A federal vaccine panel, recently reshaped by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is expected to vote on delaying the hepatitis B shot for newborns. Pediatricians warn that coul...
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Hep B has no cure and can cause cancer. We’ve virtually eliminated it in children thanks to universal newborn vaccination. A former ACIP voting member who recommended hep B for newborns told us: “We'll see cases of hepatitis B once again occur. We'll see transmission into the next generation”
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Ex-CDC director is telling the Senate right now that RFK Jr. pressured her to rubber stamp a new childhood vaccine schedule without evidence. We learned that delaying the first dose of hepatitis B was part of RFK Jr.‘s plan. Read @jackie-fortier.bsky.social’s brilliant story.
kffhealthnews.org
RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Panel Expected To Recommend Delaying Hepatitis B Shot for Children - KFF Health News
A federal vaccine panel, recently reshaped by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is expected to vote on delaying the hepatitis B shot for newborns. Pediatricians warn that coul...
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Reposted by Simone Popperl
Kashmir Hill @kashhill.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
I'm on The Daily today talking about my reporting on AI chatbots and how heavy users of ChatGPT can go into delusional, and sometimes tragic, spirals: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/p... Also today, an OpenAI blog post from Sam Altman on "safety, freedom & privacy": openai.com/index/teen-s...
nytimes.com
Trapped in a ChatGPT Spiral
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Alex Wayne @aawayne.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
NEWS: By vaccinating babies at birth, the U.S. nearly eradicated hepatitis-B in children. Kennedy's vaccine advisory panel is expected this week to recommend delaying the shot, opening a window for kids to be infected. Exclusive by @jackie-fortier.bsky.social kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org
RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Panel Expected To Recommend Delaying Hepatitis B Shot for Children - KFF Health News
A federal vaccine panel, recently reshaped by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is expected to vote on delaying the hepatitis B shot for newborns. Pediatricians warn that coul...
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Fenit Nirappil @fenitn.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
This emergency department data demonstrated the disproportionate toll of the summer wave on very young children, at a time the Trump administration says they don’t need updated vaccines.
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David Gura @davidgura.bsky.social · 20/07/2025
This will help you find a public radio or television station that stands to lose 50 percent or more of its revenue:
adoptastation.org
Adopt A Station
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
In the middle of this wild week of other news, the amazing Jackie Fortiér and I were running down this story that published today on @npr.org and @kffhealthnews.org Here's what happened, and why I think it's worth paying attention even with all of....this....going on 👇
npr.org
RFK Jr. sent Congress 'medical disinformation' to defend COVID vaccine schedule change
A document circulated to members of Congress misinterprets studies and cites debunked research, scientists say. It could influence congressional perceptions of vaccine safety.
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
In the middle of this wild week of other news, the amazing Jackie Fortiér and I were running down this story that published today on @npr.org and @kffhealthnews.org Here's what happened, and why I think it's worth paying attention even with all of....this....going on 👇
npr.org
RFK Jr. sent Congress 'medical disinformation' to defend COVID vaccine schedule change
A document circulated to members of Congress misinterprets studies and cites debunked research, scientists say. It could influence congressional perceptions of vaccine safety.
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Simone Popperl @simonepopperl.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Hello world. I edited this exceptionally good story by the exceptionally excellent Kate Wells. Have a look, and don’t forget your backyard chicken is a “bird” as in “bird flu”.
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